Unfinished Business
by winchesterdream
Summary: Bella and her friends work in a department store, she thinks her life is going along great, until a chance meeting in a bar turns her life upside down, as they say, life isn't supposed to be easy. All human. Rated M for future citrusy goodness.
1. Chapter 1

"You need to get laid" I felt my jaw drop open as my other friends laughed uproariously,

"What the hell Angela?" I asked, that was the last thing you would expect my quiet, mild mannered workmate to say,

"I'm just saying, I'm the one that has had to put up with your moods for the last couple of months, a little bit of nookie wouldn't hurt"

"I haven't been that bad"

"I totally agree with Ang" my best friend Alice said in between laughs, "When was the last time you got some? Jacob?" I saw Rosalie roll her eyes,

"Yeah, and we all know how awesome that turned out" no one could do sarcasm quite like Rosalie, I pointed my finger at her,

"Hey! That wasn't my fault"

"Sorry Bella but even I know that you don't sleep with work colleagues" Angela looked apologetic, I had at least expected a little support from her, but she was probably right, drunk at a work function I had hooked up with one of my closest buddies, I hadn't realised that he had such strong feelings, I just wanted to relieve some frustration, he had wanted a whole lot more that I couldn't give, we hadn't spoken in months, awkward since we worked in the same department store, fortunately with our positions our paths didn't cross too often.

"Can we please get off the subject of my non existent sex life" I said exasperatedly.

Alice let out a huge snort, looking over at her I hadn't realised that our waiter was standing beside me waiting to hand me my meal, he was trying hard not to laugh himself, I felt my face flush bright red,

"Smooth" said Rosalie.

After he had served us all our meals and left, with a wink in my direction I might add, we all attacked our lunch, the four of us had a weekly standing lunch date at the small deli across from the store we all worked at, it wasn't the flashest place in the area, but it sure had the best food.

I was the administration manger, and at 28 years old I was one of the younger ones in that position throughout the company. I had been with Spaceys for eleven years and had worked hard to get where I was.

My best friend Alice was in charge of buying, she was five foot nothing with short almost spiky black hair and energy to burn, she had an uncanny knack of predicting what was going to be fashionable every season and always seemed to get the best deals from suppliers.

Rosalie was the managers personal assistant and gorgeous. Tall, leggy with a body that would make supermodels envious, with bright blue eyes and long blonde hair, it was originally her looks that got her the job , Old man Henderson, the manager, had been through a bevvy of young attractive assistants and had had his fair share of sexual harassment suits, he had tried it on with Rose not long after she started , she never told us the full story but Old man Henderson never laid a finger on her, leered at her or used badly disguised euphemisms around her again, and he kept her on, she is an incredible PA, she ran his office with military precision, one things for sure, I would never dare get on the wrong side of Rosalie Hale.

The last person at the table, Angela Webber was the complete opposite of my other two friends, calm, quiet, unassuming and caring, not that Alice and Rosalie didn't care, they just had a different way of showing it, she was my antidote to Alice and Rose, there wasn't much that got past Ang, she was extraordinarily intelligent, she was my second in charge and I often wondered whether she should be my boss instead, she only worked for me twenty hours a week, spending the rest of her time studying to be a psychologist.

Rosalie groaned,

"I swear their spanakopita is better than in Greece"she said as she put the last forkful in her mouth,

"You order that every time you come here, if you keep going you're going to turn into Popeye"

Alice laughed,

"God Bella you're so lame"

"I'm sorry did I miss the memo? Is it pick on Bella day today?"

"It's pick on Bella day everyday!" Rosalie pushed her empty plate away,

"Oh guys, I nearly forgot, the file came through for the new manager today" Alice was practically bouncing in her seat,

"And you're only telling us this now? Who is it? Where's he from? Is there a photo? Is he hot?" her questions came out rapid fire,

"Alice I have no idea why you're so excited, I'm nervous" Angela admitted,

"Why would you be nervous?" I asked,

"Well it's better the devil you know right? Old man Henderson just lets us be to get on with our jobs, I mean, we'd get along fine even if he wasn't there, what if the new manager comes in and gets more involved and starts making changes everywhere, what if we get a total douchebag?" Alice started giggling,

"Sorry, it just sounds funny when you say douchebag"

"I think Ang has a point, what's his file like Rose?" she leaned in,

"I'm not supposed to say anything, so you guys can't repeat anything okay?" we clustered in even closer,

"Well, he's young, only 28, and he's coming here from Alaska"

"Alaska?" we all ask at once,

"Yep, but he must be good, it says he's been a finalist in the Mitch Atkins young person of the year awards, and he's not some college hotshot, he's worked his way up through the company, he started when he was fifteen" Angela looked thoughtful,

"Sounds impressive"

"But coming from Alaska, it's only small up there right? how will he handle the size and volume of our store?"

"I guess they have faith in him" Rose answered, Alice's high voice piped in,

"But is there a photo? is he hot or not?" I looked at her,

"Alice! being a little superficial aren't we? and besides, why are you thinking like that? shouldn't you be daydreaming about your boyfriend, not your new boss?"

"I always daydream about Jasper, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a little eye candy at work" she winked at me, sometimes I wondered what goes through that girl's mind,

"Speaking of Jasper, we heading to the bar tonight? I'm in the mood to get my groove on!" Rosalie threw her hands in the air and starting grinding on her seat, I reached over and pulled her hands down,

"Rose, everyone's looking" I said, as I felt my cheeks heat up again, she rolled her eyes at me,

"Who cares, I bet they were enjoying the show" everyone else laughed again,

"Well Ben and I are having dinner with his parents tonight, so I'm out, sorry guys" it seemed she was directing her apology to me, mostly because I knew once we got there Alice would be off fawning over Jasper, who happened to own the bar and Rosalie would be practically dry humping her boyfriend Emmett, who also worked there as a bouncer, Ang always kept me company while they cavorted around, she'd been wth her boyfriend Ben since high school, they were a cute couple, sometimes he tagged along with us and tut-tutted at the other girls behaviour. I was a lot more confident that I was as a teenager but still not anywhere near as brash as my friends, well, two of them at least. Alice grabbed my hand,

"C'mon Bells, it's TGI Friday! Half price cocktails" she said wiggling her eyebrows, it was hard to say no to that, Jasper's bar had the best margaritas outside of Mexico, she kept tugging on my arm,

"And last week he said he was getting new songs for the karaoke"

I loved karaoke, get a couple of drinks in me and I'd sing all night if they'd let me, and they usually did, I was pretty good, even if I did say so myself.

"Okay, I'm in" Alice squealed,

"Yay! okay everyone at my place at seven to get ready"

No one was ever allowed to head out until they had Alice's approval, although I think this rule was mostly meant for me. I had to hand it to her though, we always looked smokin' hot when we went out, I saw Angela look down at her wrist,

"Crap, look at the time, we better head back"

We paid for our lunch and headed out into the sunshine, it was a typically warm day in Phoenix and the short walk back to the store was nice, being copped up inside all day made you really appreciate the great outdoors so much more. I lifted my face to feel the suns warm rays beat down, I'd spent a couple of years as a teenager living with my Dad in Forks, Washington, I swear it took a whole year for my bones to warm up again, I love my Dad to bits but I have no idea how he stays in that frozen little town.

"I don't know why you guys are hurrying, Old Man Henderson will be asleep anyway, and even if he's not, he isn't going to notice whether we're late or not" Rosalie stated. He was sixty five and had a habit of falling asleep in the armchair in his office after lunch, Rosalie usually left him to it, it's not like he did much anyway, she only woke him if he had a meeting or phone conference to deal with,

"Well, if y'all are late I;m obligated to dock you, so no more picking on the person who pays you" I poked ot my tongue at my friends as we walked up to the staff entry door, Alice slapped me up the side of the head,

"Don't pull ran on us missy" Angela pressed the button for the elevator, it opened straight up, all our offices were on the same level, I hit the number six and looked over at Rose,

"You didn't say what the new managers name was"

"Oh, it's something Masen, the fax was a really bad copy, I couldn't make out the first name, I think it started with a F or D or something" Alice pouted,

"Well, that's not very helpful"

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**So the story begins =D Hope you all stick with me, and since I'm a complete review whore, leave me some nice words,or even some not so nice words ;), I'll take anything! all suggestions are helpful, as they'll help me write a story that you want to read. **


	2. Chapter 2

"As soon as you're done with that filing you can head home if you like" Angela extracted her head from the filing cabinet,

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to finish this email and I'm heading off too" Friday afternoons were generally very quiet and we both usually got the chance to leave early. I saw her pick up the last pile of completed employee evaluations and head back to the filing cabinet, it was only another six months until she graduated and I had no idea how I was going to cope without her, I certainly didn't look forward to training someone else. I was engrossed in typing up my email when Ang's long slender hand waving in front of my face caught my attention,

"Hello! Earth to Bella" I looked up startled,

"Sorry" she just chuckled, "that's okay I'm used to it, you sure you don't need anything else done?"

"I'm sure Ang, go home, have fun tonight and I'll see you Monday"

"See you Monday, don't do anything I wouldn't do tonight, actually I take that back, make sure you do do something I wouldn't do tonight" I laughed, Angela was proud of the fact that she and Ben were waiting until marriage to do the deed, the other girls and I had no idea how she did it, considering they weren't even engaged yet. She grabbed her bag from under her desk and waved as she headed out the door.

I quickly checked over the email and hit send, if head office wanted any more information they were just going to have to wait until Monday, besides I'd probably go into one of my 'trances' again, that's what Ang called them, 'trances' if I was focused on one thing my concentration would become so complete it was like nothing else in the world existed, I'd lost whole days reading books before, I'd grab a book after breakfast, start reading and the next time I looked up it was nightfall.

I tidied my desk, shut my computer down, and checked the safe was locked, grabbing my bag I took on last look around the office to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything, I switched off the light and shut the door.

Even this early a lot of the cars were gone from the staff car park, my old truck was standing out like a sore thumb next to all of the small shiny city runabout cars, my Dad had bought me the truck years ago, I had become so attached that even when the motor had died, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it, I had a new motor installed instead, and I drove it all the way home from Forks, don't they say everyone should do a cross country road trip once in their lifetime?. It wasn't entirely practical for city living, but it was mine and I loved it.

It was a thirty minute drive between work and my home, well, thirty if the traffic was good, nearly double if it wasn't, fortunately I had left work early enough to beat the peak hour rush.

Pulling in to my drive I breathed a sigh of relief, there's nothing like getting home at the end of the working week. After quickly checking the mailbox I let myself inside, my house was modest, but it suited me down to the ground, the ground floor was made up of a large open plan area incorporating the living room, dining room and kitchen, upstairs two large bedrooms, mine with an en suite and walk in robe, the spare room also had a smaller bathroom attached, but the main reason I purchased this house was the library, through sliding glass french doors in the living room was the library I'd always dreamed of owning, luxurious deep red carpet, floor to ceiling dark timber shelves lined three of the walls, two leather chaise lounges, the old rocking chair that sat in the corner of my room from my fathers and an antique desk that cost me several months salary, it was my sanctuary, the one place I could be my true self, free just to be me and indulge in my secret habit, writing, I had never told a soul about my desire to be an author, the fear of rejection keeping my dream a secret. As soon as I'd seen this room I put a deposit down on the house, everyone thought I was mad,

_"It's too far from work"_

_"What if you have kids, it;s not big enough"_

_"The neighbourhood isn't very nice"_

But I had stuck with my choice and have never regretted it, no matter how bad the day had been I could sit in my library and all the stress just seeps away. The block I lived on seemed to be all made up of cookie cutter houses, all the same, I know in my nieghbours house she had made the extra room a formal dining area, and another old lady down the road who I often visited made hers into a playroom for her grand kids.

I dumped my bag on the telephone stand in the hallway, my machine was blinking at me, I pressed the button as I headed towards the kitchen, the first one was from my mother,

_"Bella honey, just checking in to see that you'e okay, Phil and I are heading into the rain forest tomorrow so don't panic if you don't hear from us for a week or so, love you" _

I rolled my eyes, after Phil had retired from baseball my mother decided it was her dream to explore South America, with next to no planning they sold everything and headed off, I did have to hand it to them though, some of the things they had done sounded fascinating, and they hadn't been kidnapped or killed yet. Bonus. The next message was from Alice, her high pitched voice went so fast I had to listen to the message again to decipher it,

_Bella, I have the perfect outfit lined up for you at my house so don't bring anything but those strappy black heels you bought last week, so what are you waiting for missy, go get in that shower and get your butt over here" _

_"So much for meeting at seven" _I thought to myself, I shouldn't complain about Alice wanting to treat me like some life size Barbie doll, I always looked a hell of a lot better than I did when left to my own devices, and lets admit it, who doesn't like getting dressed up and pampered a little.

I turned on my stereo as I passed through the living room, another extravagant purchase, literature was my first love but music came a very close second, music has the ability to influence our emotions and inspire, but right now I was going to use it to get me in the mood to party, beats from The Presets filtered through the speaker system than ran throughout the entire house, Alice had dragged us all to one of their gigs and I'd fallen in love with the Australian duo. I showered quickly, not wanting to bring on Alice's wrath by being late, after blow drying my hair I smothered myself in shimmering body lotion because no doubt the outfit Alice had lined up showed a fair bit of skin, they usually did. I didn't bother packing any makeup or anything for my hair as my well prepared friend had enough supplies to open her own beauty salon in her bathroom.

Throwing all the essentials int my small silver jeweled clutch and grabbing my new heels, I turned the stereo and all the lights off and headed off to Alice's.

I knocked on her front door, I know she wouldn't have minded if I had just walked straight in but I had always felt it a little rude to do that, I heard her trill voice call out,

"Come in!"

I made my way down the long hallway towards her room, it was where we always got ready, Rosalie was already there applying her own makeup in front of Alice's full length mirror,

"Alice, do you realise that you could have just invited a serial killer into your house?" Rosalie snorted,

"As if we didn't know it was you, we could hear that truck coming from four blocks away"

"You know that's a lie, it's as quiet as a mouse since the new engine went in" she rolled her eyes at me,

"It's still a rust bucket"

"Hey! No hating on the truck, just because it's not pretty and shiny like yours, at least it has character"

"Is that what you call it?"

Alice bounded over with a garment bag in her hand,

"You're going to love this, it's perfect for you" she unzipped the bag and pulled the dress out with a flourish, it was a deep midnight blue halter neck dress, the halter neck itself was bound in silver thread so it almost looked like rope, it was low cut, but not so much that it looked cheap, just below the bust was a silver clasp with a small sapphire set in the middle pulling together the soft flowing material of the skirt,

"Alice, it's gorgeous"

"I know! the colour is perfect for you"

Rose turned to face us,

"And what about me?" She stood there looking like a supermodel, only better in a body hugging scarily short red dress, black stilettos, her blonde hair hanging in soft curls down her back, and she'd used makeup to full effect, just the right amount of eyeshadow to make her blue eyes pop and fire engine red lipstick topped it off,

"Better keep 911 on speed dial, because you're going to give all the men in the place heart failure tonight" she did a small bow, i think the dress stopped her from bending down any further,

"Why thank you, but there is only one man who I want to give heart failure to tonight"

"Poor Emmett" I said,

"Oh no, it's going to be very very lucky Emmett" I covered my ears,

"TMI Rose" she looked at me and shrugged her shoulders,

"Not my fault you're such a prude"

"I'm not a prude"

"Then why don't you find some random hot guy to take home for ther night and ride him til he begs for mercy? get rid of that pent up frustration you've been taking out on all of us"

Alice dragged me over to a chair brandishing a curling iron,

"Rosalie, you are all class, anyone ever tell you that?"

I relaxed as Alice pulled and preened at my hair,

"Hey Rose, you want to put some music on?" she was busy looking at herself in the mirror, vanity was something else she was also very good at, she made her way out of the room arms above her head swinging her hips,

"Let's get this party started"

As Alice was curling the last pieces of hair around my face, she looked me in the eyes,

"As much as I hate to admit it, Rose is right, I don't mean just a random one night stand, you're not that kind of girl, but you need a man in your life, you haven't really been the same since James"

James, my boyfriend of three years, I thought we were going to spend the rest of our lives together, but he was a NHL player and had been traded from the Phoenix Coyotes but was traded to the Buffalo Sabres, I was confident we could survive a long distance relationship, so we agreed to give it a go, a few weeks after he left I decided to surprise him with a weekend visit and to my horror found him in bed with some red headed chick named Victoria, our attempt at the long distance relationship ended in a horrible movie cliche.

"Now you sound like my mother Alice"

"I'm sorry Bella, I just worry about you"

"I know you do, but I'm fine, when the right guy comes along, he comes along, I don't want to kiss any more frogs trying to find my prince"

"Fair enough, but just try not to be so picky okay?"

"I'm not picky, I just know what I want, there's a difference" Alice laughed,

"Whatever you say Bells"

The strains of N.E.R.D' 'She Wants To Move' filled the room, Rosalie followed a second later carrying three glasses of champagne,

"Thought we might have a drink to whet our appetite" Alice bounded over and took one of the glasses off Rosalie and downed it in one gulp,

"Perfect" I laughed,

"I'm not sure I want you doing my makeup when your drunk Alice"

"please one glass is not going to get me drunk, and besides I could do your makeup even if I was completely paraletic" I had to hand it to Alice, she was an artist with a makeup brush in her hand, with my fair skin I didn't need much, but she still always got it perfect, she did my eyes with silver and charcoal making them look smoky and definitely sexy. I quickly changed into the blue dress and put on my shoes, standing in front of the mirror I looked myself up and down, I looked hot, even if I said so myself, who knows, maybe I would get lucky tonight. I sat down on Alice's bed and poured myself another glass from the bottle Rosalie had bought in, Alice was flitting around the room like a ballerina getting herself ready, I took a long sip of my drink,

"So Alice, everything between you and Jasper going well?" they had only been dating a few weeks but Alice was convinced they were destined to be together, she had pursued him from the moment she had first laid eyes on him, which was actually about a year ago, turns out he was a real southern gentleman type and didn't really get Alice's subtle attempts at seduction, she finally just asked him out and the rest was history,

"It's going great, he's so romantic and thoughtful and kind and it's like he always knows how I'm feeling and can cheer me up or calm me down, and he's such a gentleman" she said with a sigh, but I could tell there was something she wasn't saying,

"You sound almost wistful Alice Brandon"

"Well, like I said, he's a gentleman, even in the bedroom, don't get me wrong he's a fantastic lover, but it's always slow and sweet and romantic, sometimes I wish he would just throw me on the bed and ravish me, you know what I mean?" I saw Rosalie nod,

"Emmett and I go pretty hard at it, the rougher the better I say"

"He just seems so _controlled _all the time, I wouldn't mind if he snapped out of it once in a while"

I drained my glass and placed it on the nightstand,

"Well maybe you have to take control, throw him down on the bed and ravish him instead, maybe then he'll see that you don't mind getting down and dirty every now and then"

"That's pretty good advice actually, I mean, coming from someone who hasn't got down and dirty for an absurdly long time" Rosalie said,

"I'll take that as a compliment then"

"I might just take that advice, it could make for an interesting night" Alice said winking.

She pranced into her walk in robe and emerged a minute later in a simple little black dress, she looked gorgeous as always, the three of us stood in front of the mirror,,

"God help mankind tonight" Rosalie said.

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**There you go, chapter two for your reading pleasure, well I hope it's pleasurable anyway LOL Thanks to the people who have put the story on their favourites list and alerts, love you guys!! But I'd love it even more if you reviewed, or am I just being too greedy? =D Going to try and update every Friday (Australia time) I say try because I am a full time working mother, don't always have the time I'd like to write! **

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**I updated this chapter again because I wasn't sure if it took or not, and I don't think alerts went out, so I apologise if anyone got two emails for it =D  
**


	3. Chapter 3

Dressed to kill and already slightly inebriated we herded out the front door and into the waiting taxi, the driver whistled,

"My luck certainly has changed, must be the luckiest man alive to be picking up you lovely ladies, where are you off to? your wish is my command" he lowered his head in a small bow, Alice leaned into the opening in the perspex,

"Well in that case can you please take us to Jasper's bar on Brown Street please" she winked at him, a little bit of flirting went a long way to getting a cheaper fare.

The drive didn't take long, even with the driver missing some lights because he was too busy looking in his rear view mirror at us, you could almost see the drool running down his chin, I didn't mind, it did wonders for my self esteem, well, that and all the champagne I'd drank at Alice's house.

Jasper's was a small bar, but with a whole lot of atmosphere, once when I was drunk I asked Jasper if he thought that naming the bar after himself was a bit conceited, I'd earned a slap across the back of the head from Alice for that one, but Jasper just laughed saying he had no imagination and was just un original.

When we made it inside I noticed there were already a few people there even though it was sort of early to be out on a Friday night, Jasper's didn't pull huge crowds, it wasn't like those clubs in the centre of town, but it was our favourite hangout, we rarely went anywhere else anymore, and I couldn't help but notice how half the men's heads turned as we entered the place, we had it going on alright. Rosalie dragged us to the far end of the bar where Emmett was standing drinking an orange juice, he usually didn't start his shift as a bouncer until the place got busier, he was the stereotypical bouncer type, tall, broad shouldered and muscles on top of his muscles, which were always emphasised by the tight t-shirts that he always wore, if you didn't know him, he could seem very intimidating, but get to know him , and you soon realise he's a very easy going, fun loving guy.

Rosalie draped herself on Emmett pulling his head down to hers for a kiss, I could see him run his hand down her back and cup her butt cheek, I had to look away, they were never shy with their public displays of affection. Alic piped up,

"Get a room you guys" I almost thought I heard an audible vacuum sound as they parted lips, Rose turned towards Alice,

"Just because you're jealous"

"How can I possibly keep my hands to myself when someone this fine walks in and attaches themselves to my lips" Emmett added, Rosalie looked up at him,

"I might attach myself to something else later on if you're lucky" Alice started making exaggerated gagging noises,

"Gross. Hey Em, where's Jasper?"

"He left about an hour ago, he said something about getting some more music for the karaoke machine, he shouldn't be far off getting back I reckon"

"'Kay, thanks"

"Anytime pixie" I noticed Emmett looking me up and down,

"Damn Bella, you're smoking hot tonight, you looking to get some or what?" Rosalie laughed,

"We can only hope" I rolled my eyes at them both and turned to bar, I gestured over to Marcus the bartender,

"Don't tell me, margarita?"

"How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess" he winked at me,

"You know you make the best margaritas outside of Central America"

"That's why Jasper hired me" Marcus sat my drink in front of me, I licked the salt off the rim of the glass as I took my first sip, looking up at him I said,

"Perfect, as always"

"Keep the compliments coming Baby and they'll get even better" Marcus was gorgeous and a shameless flirt, it was a pity he was gay, I wouldn't have minded tapping that.

"Hey Bella, I have a surprise for you" I turned to see Jasper holding out a display folder,

"Wow, a display folder, Jasper you shouldn't have. Really."

"Very funny, it's the new updated song list for the karaoke machine, since you told me most of the songs I should get I thought I would give you first look"

"Aww thanks Jasper" I leaned in and gave him a hug, I barely came up to his shoulder, I always told Alice they were an odd couple, her tiny and dark haired, him tall, lanky with a mop of dirty blonde hair, her response,

_"Everyone is the same height laying down" _

Jasper was such a sweet guy, I felt a twinge of jealousy, all of my friends had great boyfriends, and I was depressingly single, I jumped up on the bar stool,

"Marcus can I grab another drink?"

"Anything for you gorgeous" flicking through the pages of the folder I turned to Jasper,

"You listened to my advice and got Kate Miller-Heidke? and Lily Allen _and _Nick Cave?" he laughed,

"Well I wouldn't put it so much as advice, you more or less demanded them" I felt the heat rise in my cheeks,

"Sorry about that, I get kind of passionate when it comes to music" he raised his eyebrows,

"I noticed" he chuckled,

"Thanks for getting the new songs in Jasper" I pointed at my glass, "a few more of these and no doubt I'll be giving them a try. You better go talk to your girlfriend though, she's giving me the evil eye for stealing you" he raised his hands to his face in mock horror,

"Not the evil eye" I watched as he sat the folder next to the karaoke machine and sauntered over to Alice, he cupped her face in his hands and gently pecked her on the lips, I felt that green eyed monster in me rise again,

_"That's what I want" _I thought to myself,

_"Someone who can show me how much they care in one little kiss" _I sighed, right now though, I think I'd settle for anything , the one night stand idea was sounding better and better by the minute, my friends were right, I _was_ frustrated,

I made my way over to my friends who were both attached to their boyfriends,

"Okay, I didn't come out to watch you two suck face with your men, let's dance" Alice cocked her head to one side,

"I see you've found enough time to kill a couple of margaritas without us" Jasper moved away from Alice,

"Emmett and I better get to work anyway, the punters are starting to roll in, have a fun night ladies" he kissed Alice on the forehead and headed off,

"Better do as the boss says" Emmett pushed Rosalie up against the bar and shoved his tongue down her throat, those two had no shame whatsoever,

"okay let's dance!" Alice grabbed our hands and hauled us away from the bar,

"it's my turn to pick the music" I opened my clutch and pulled out the change I'd bought for this exact purpose. I still had my head down fumbling with my bag when I bumped into someone already at the jukebox, I looked up and stared at the most gorgeous human specimen I had ever laid eyes on.

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**I know this chapter was short, very short, but anyone who knows me knows I love leaving my chapters at an agonising end ;) The next chapter will be from Edwards point of view, there will a few EPOV chapters thrown in here and there, not as many as I had originally planned as I have now realised that writing from a man's perspective isn't as easy as I thought! Thanks again to the people who have added this story to their favourites and alerts, much appreciated =D **

**Also, sorry this chapter is a day late, my in laws are staying and I was also babysitting my nephew and it completely slipped my mind, my bad.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**EPOV**

I heard the door open, I didn't need to turn around to know who it was,

"Hi Mom"

"Need a hand Edward?"

"Same answer as the last three times you've asked me that Mom, I'm fine, I got this under control" I was hard pressed not to sound annoyed with her, but she was starting to get on my nerves,

"I know, I know, just make sure you pack..."

"If you say a warm jumper I swear I will not come back to visit even for holidays"

"I'm just worried about you" I could hear the sadness in her voice, I turned around to face her, I wasn't surprised to see the beginnings of tears in her eyes, it didn't take much to get Esme going ever since I had told her about the promotion to Phoenix,

"Awww Mom" I pulled her into a tight hug, her head barely making it to my chin, I planted a kiss on the top of her head, she still had that lovely warm 'mom' smell that comforted me as a child,

"Most mothers would be happy to see their twenty eight year old sons finally move out of home"

"I'm happy for you, I really am, but do you have to move so far away?"

"I can't go any further at work if I don't leave Alaska Mom, and you know you can come visit any time, try and convince Dad to take some time of work and bring him too, come and enjoy some sunshine, and you know I'll be back for holidays, it's not like we won't see each other again" I felt her tighten her arms around me, as soon as I had applied for the new position I had know this would be hard on my mother, my father Carlisle worked long hours at the hospital, so often it was just my mother and I at home, that was part of the reason I had never moved out, even though I was acutely aware of how it looked, a twenty eight year old man still living at home? yeah, people tended to respect you a whole lot when you still lived at home.

"I know someone else that is going to miss you" I let out a big sigh,

"I know"

"She's called several times today" every time I had heard the phone ring I had guessed it had been her, that was exactly why I had my mobile phone switched off,

"You should talk to her" great, now my mother was laying a guilt trip on me,

"I will, I promise, maybe when I get back"

"She deserves to know you're leaving, I can't believe you haven't told her yet"

"I just need to figure out what to say to her, that's all"

"Well, if you want my advice the longer you leave it the harder it will get" she reached up and touched my cheek,

"I'll leave you to your packing then"

"Love you Mom"

I looked down at the pile of clothes strewn across the bed, I was only going for two nights, there was no way I needed so many things, a suit for my meeting with head office, a set of decent clothes in case I decided to head out and some casual gear for my house hunting expedition, I threw some shoes on top and my toiletries bag, I was ready to go. Looking at the suitcase I wondered for the hundredth time whether I was doing the right thing.

I sank back into the soft leather seat, the company had only paid for an economy seat, I'd paid for the upgrade into business class myself, if I was going to be on this plane for five hours there was no way I wasn't going to be comfortable. I had practically sprinted onto the plane, as much as I had begged, my mother wouldn't allow me to get a cab to the airport, and the resulting scene was exactly why I had wanted the cab in the first place, copious tears, hugs and 'do you have to go?'s' thankfully Carlisle had come to say goodbye too and was able to calm Esme down somewhat, it would have been a whole lot worse if he hadn't have been there, anybody would have thought that I was leaving permanently, not returning in two days. my parents coming to see me off had one plus though, it meant I didn't have time to check my phone before boarding the plane, call me a coward but I wasn't ready to deal with that just yet.

Tanya. My oh so needy and oh so clingy girlfriend, best way to describe her? Drama. Queen. I hadn't told her yet about the promotion, I probably should have the moment I applied for it, but I dreaded the scene it would cause, and my number one solution for dealing with things? Avoidance.

I'd met Tanya three years ago at a local cafe where I went to have lunch most days, she was a waitress there, three years later and she still worked there waiting tables, I'd often asked her if she had any aspirations to do anything else with her life, she'd just shrug her shoulders and answer,

_"Not really" _

Don't get me wrong, I cared for her deeply, but it often irked me that she had no real direction in her life, it was my belief that everyone should have some sort of drive in life, but she was content to just drift along and let things fall where they may, there was one exception to the rule though, Me. She may have had no real dedication to anything else in her life, but I could honestly say she was totally devoted to me, scarily devoted, it was one of the reasons that I had refused to move in with her, even though she had asked me several times, she tended to become very anxious if I didn't call her every day, as a matter of fact if I hadn't called her by 7pm you could almost guarantee my phone would start ringing five minutes later, and keep ringing until I answered it. You may well ask why do I date someone so clingy? Well, she didn't start out that way, it wasn't until I was hit by a drunk driver and spent two weeks in hospital that it started, her parents had been killed by a drunk driver in Italy and she had been left an orphan, I guess that fear of being left alone had been ingrained in her since then. There was another reason I had stuck with Tanya, she was absolutely gorgeous, tall, slim with a killer body, amazing violet coloured eyes and long flowing strawberry coloured hair, I'd been amazed that she was only waitressing, I thought it was perhaps a second job and she was a model, I'd also been amazed that she was single, and that she had agreed to go out with me, I wasn't the most confidant man when it came to women, well, except for when I have a few drinks in me, a bit of dutch courage works wonders.

The flight went quickly, thankfully, maybe thanks to the movies I had bought from the in flight service, no matter how many times I'd seen The Hangover it still made me laugh like a madman, I'd also ordered Invictus, I'd read good things about it and really enjoyed the movie, even though I didn't understand a thing about rugby, my lack of know how didn't take away from the story at all. I shed my coat as I stood at the carousel waiting for my suitcase to appear, I could feel the heat already and I was still inside the terminal, the weather was going to take some adjusting to that's for sure, who knows, maybe I could get some colour into my scary pale Alaskan skin. I looked down at my watch, I only had an hour and a half before I had to meet with the regional manager and I really wanted to get clean off the travel grime at the hotel before it started.

Fortunately I had a cab driver that seemed to be in training for formula one racing, we got into the city in record time, which gave me enough time to get to the hotel room and get ready for my meeting, I was really hoping it didn't drag on for too long, I wanted to wander around and hopefully get to see some of the city that would soon become my home. I showered and put my suit on, thankfully it hadn't got too creased in my suitcase, one last glance in the mirror to make sure I looked presentable and I headed out to meet with my new boss.

Mr Vickery came across as a total asshole, but as I sat in the meeting I came to see that it was going to be great to work with him, it wasn't so much that he was an asshole, more that he wanted things done the right way, he was passionate about this company and it's performance, I admired that, a lot of executives nowadays were more worried about their own careers and whether or not they could earn more money elsewhere than the job the were supposed to be doing, I also met with the HR manager Ms Cope, she was a delightful older woman who gave me the rundown on a lot of the staff that would be working under me, although I couldn't help but notice the slightly creepy way she looked at me, almost like I was piece of meat. I walked out of the building with several reports so I could get to know the trading patterns, sales history and of course my KPI's, I was certainly going to be under a lot more pressure here and I was going to have to work a lot harder if I wanted to be successful in Phoenix, but I welcomed the challenge, in fact I was really looking forward to it, there would be no distractions here, no family issues or Tanya to take up my time, I was going to be able to focus entirely on doing a good job.

I spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, it seemed so vibrant, so energetic, so different to Anchorage, I could tell I was going to love it, I walked past Spacey's and was tempted to go in and snoop around for a bit, see what I had to work with, but to get a real idea of how a store worked the best time to go in there was on weekends, when the junior staff where working, that was usually when things fell apart, and I figured it would give me a good idea of the areas that needed to be addressed once I started, I'd visit after me appointment with the real estate agent tomorrow.

As I walked back to my hotel I decided a cold beer was in order, on my travels that morning I had noticed a nice little bar just a block up from where I was staying, I headed up the street and found the place I was looking for, it was called Jasper's, and it looked like my sort of place, not overly pretentious but not dark and dingy either, and they had Heineken on tap, perfect. I sat at the bar and ordered a beer and got into a conversation with the barman who told me his name was Marcus, if I didn't know better I'd think he was checking me out, but he was a funny guy and told me about the city and all the things I should see and do, I also got to meet the owner, not surprisingly whose name was Jasper, I asked him if he thought naming his bar after himself was a bit conceited, he laughed and said that a friend asked him the exact same thing once, and he only named it that because he had no imagination, they also talked me into coming back later that night, apparently they got a pretty solid crowd in here on a Friday night, I drained the last of my beer and agreed to come back that night, no reason why I couldn't let my hair down a little and have a little fun before I move back down here permanently and get stuck into work.

I ate dinner at a restaurant next door to the hotel, I had to give them credit, it was the best pasta I'd ever eaten, I made a mental note of the name, I'd be coming back here for sure. Laying down on my bed I finally had the courage to turn my phone back on, I watched the screen as the number of missed calls and texts grew, after a couple of minutes it had finally finished, 46 missed calls and 55 text messages, I had to give it to Tanya she could be persistent when she wanted to be. Not all the messages where from Tanya, there were a couple from my mother, just asking if I got here safely and what the city was like, I felt a bit guilty because I hadn't contacted her since I landed, so I sent her a text saying that I was fine and some of the things here that I had seen that I think she may have liked. Now it was time to sift through all Tanya's messages, they were all variations of the same thing,

_where are you?_

_I've called a hundred times_

_Why are you ignoring me?_

_Are you mad at me?_

_I love you_

I knew I should call, but I just didn't feel like dealing with it tonight, I made a promise with myself to call her tomorrow, but to appease her I sent a quick text, artfully 'glossing' over some details,

_Just got ur msgs, sorry got call to head 2 phoenix 4 work thing, last minute notice, been in meetings all day, will call 2morrow. _

It took only a second to get a reply, she must have been sitting staring at her phone,

_Phoenix? OK miss you lots :( talk 2morrow, will dream of you 2nite, love you xxxx_

There, now I _had _to talk with her about Phoenix tomorrow, I'd thought long and hard about what to do as I walked around in the sunshine, I was going to break it off, there was no way we could conduct a long distance relationship between Alaska and here and I was pretty sure I didn't even want to try, I hadn't even told her I loved her yet, and we'd been going out for years, I hadn't said it because I didn't feel it, she was lovely girl, but just not the right one for me, I'd tell her about the promotion tomorrow but wait until we were face to face to end the relationship, it was only fair.

I has a quick shower and got dressed in some jeans and a dark grey button down shirt, I looked in the mirror and ran my fingers through my hair a few times, satisfied with my appearance I headed out into the night.

Jasper and Marcus were right, there was a decent crowd already in the bar when I arrived, I'd seen jasper at the door and he'd greeted me like an old friend, he also introduced me to the bouncer, Emmett who nearly crushed my hand when he shook it, he also told me several R rated jokes while we stood there talking, Marcus was still behind the bar and as soon as I approached he poured me another Heineken,

"Glad to see you made it back"

"I need a good night out"

"You came to the right place then" with a wink he left to serve other patrons, I turned and looked around at the crowd, most were sitting at tables talking, as I scanned the room a group of women caught my eye, one tall blonde in a red dress, one tiny black haired girl and the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on.

* * *

**Took me a while to get into the swing of writing from a male perspective, hope it turned out okay :) You know what to do now people, REVIEW! =D **


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